Friends Fur-ever card post

Hi All, I hope this finds everyone having a good week. I borrowed this cute stamp set. It's just so sweet! I used Pretty in Pink cardstock for the card base. I watercolored the scotty dog, hearts and the chair. The dog and hearts are pop-dotted to stand out from the card. It was truly a joy to stamp with this set, it was just plain fun!!

We had a beautiful day here in the Maritimes and we're suppose to have another bright, sun shiney day tomorrow. Maybe summer is finally here! YAY!!!!

I hope you get a chance to stamp this week. Take care and have a great week!

hugs,
Ret

Fab Florets Watercolored

Hi Everyone! Today I decided to pull out my Stampin Up Water Color Crayons and do some watercoloring on my Fab Florets stamp set. I'm sorry I'm using this set again, but I just love it!! I watercolored the flowers in More Mustard with Cajun Craze centers. I used some dazzling diamonds in the center as well. The leaves were colored with Always Artichoke and Old Olive. I used the polka dot embossing folder for the back drop of the flowers. I was going to add ribbon, but decided to just let this be a clean and simple card. I hope you like it.

I can't get over how quickly June is zooming by!! Time just doesn't sit still for anyone does it!! I hope you all have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by!!

Take care and happy stamping!

hugs,
Ret

Great Friend in Pear Pizzazz

Good day All!!! Happy June 23rd! Noooo, it has no signifigance, just thought I'd make you stop and wonder for a moment. hehe Guess I'm in one of those goofy moods today. LOL

I decided that I would make a card with Stampin Up's Great Friend stamp set that will be retiring soon. I really like this set, especially the butterfly so I'll be sad to see it go, but I'll still have it in my stash to play with when I want to.

For this card I used pear pizzazz, chocolate chip and very vanilla cardstocks. I stamped the leaves onto one of the pear peices. I also used the oval scallop frame die. After stamping the butterfly and cutting it out. I used silver wire and silver seed beads to make the body and antenna's on the butterfly, and added dazzling diamonds to the edges of it. I also used a white gel pen to add some trim. If you have any questions on what I used, feel free to ask.

I hope you like this card and that it will inspire you to pull out your Great Friend set and get stamping!! It looks a bit overcast out and it's hard to tell if the sun is going to break through or not. I sure hope so!! Have a great day all and I'll see you back here again, soon.

Fab Florets Birthday Card

Good Monday morning, stampers! hehe Should good and monday morning really appear in the same sentence? LOL I doubt that many of us think so!! But I'm off track here, so back to the reason for this post. I needed a birthday card and I reached for Stampin Up's Fab Florets set. I love this set, you can't possibly make a "bad" card with it. You just can't! I stamped several of the image and cut them out, each showing a smaller portion of the flower, and then I simply layered them with a pop dot in between each and added a little Dazzling Diamonds to it. I'm happy with how the card came out and she was really happy to get it. I foresee more Fab Florets in my future! :) Yay!

With Sunday being Fathers Day, I reflected on lots of memories and sent a prayer off for my Dad. I sure do miss him, but know that he is in no pain, and is waiting for my Mom and I to join him one day. That thought brings me contentment, and that's worth an awful lot these days. I hope all the Dads had a nice day and all you Mom's and kids participated in celebrating the day with them. I hope the weather held out for it...It wasn't nice here until later in the afternoon, but then it was just beautiful. I hope you like my card and will send me some "luv" in your comments. :)

I will close for now. Hope you all have a wonderful beginning of the week and are able to play with your crafting...whatever that might be.

hugs,
Ret

P.S.== If anyone could tell me how I can take a picture and resize it without having the frame off center at the upper sides and top the way it is...I would love to be enlightened!!!!

Baroque Motif Cherish Card

Hello All, I hope this finds everybody happy and enjoying the sunshine we had today.
I decided as long as I had Baroque Motif out, that I would do a non-sympathy card with it. I got a little carried away with the bling. I LOVE bling! I stamped
"cherish" on it and think this could even be used as a wedding card. I wanted to use up some of my retired colored cardstocks, and that's why I used the retired Apricot Appeal and retired Blush Blossom along with the current River Rock. Almost have used it all up now, so I'm glad of that. Will be glad to get some of the pretty new "in colors" in July.

Today was a really off day for me, so I feel like I really accomplished something with making a card. I'm off now to get some rest. I hope you like my card.

Take care all and have a good weekend.

hugs,
Ret

Vintage Vogue Clean and Simple

Hi Readers,
Happy Thursday to you! Today I've done a "no frills" card. LOL I used Stampin Up's Vintage Vogue stamp set. I find myself reaching for that set once again, I seem to use it alot. It's such a pretty vintagey set. I just love it. My card base is Chocolate Chip with a pink c/s I had in my stash. I stamped the background, added layers and butterflies and waa-laaaaaaaaa(viola) done! The wings are not taped flat, they do flap! ;) LOL It's no fuss, no muss this time. Sometimes, simple is all you need.

Have you seen the new Stampin Up catalog? Oh my, it's to die for!! Personally, I think it's the best one I've ever seen. I don't know how they keep out doing themselves, but they do manage to, from some colored pages to just really beautiful product. It's really, really nice. Run, don't walk to your "favorite-ist" demonstrator and purchase your new 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog! You won't be sorry, believe me!!! There are sooooo many new beautiful stamp sets and products...oh my, oh myyyyy! hehehehe Oh, and don't forget...the catalog is something you will want to keep because the samples and idea's are just so wonderful.
Are you on your way to your Demo YET? hehehe

Ok, Ret, off your soap box. I'm such a fan of SU, can you tell? heeeee!

I am so hoping for a little glimpse of sunshine today and it looks like our little slice of Nova Scotia just might be a sunny, beautiful day! YAYYYYYYYYYY! I say it softly though, I don't want to scare the sun away, it's been so scarce so far this season.

Take care, my friends, and I do hope you're able to pull out your inks today and play a bit. I know I sure am going to! Thanks for stopping by, please don't forget to leave me a little love (comment) and let me know what ya think of todays project.

Hugs,

Ret

Baroque Motifs in Bravo Burgandy

Hi Everyone,

Did you ever notice that when you need a birthday card...then you need LOTS of them...if you need a sympathy card, it seems, I get lots of calls for them. And that's the trend right now for me, everyone is asking for Sympathy cards. That's not necassarily a good thing for someone...but I make whatever they ask me for. So please bear with me...I seem to be doing a bunch of them of late.

I wanted a card that was clean and simple, but pretty. I think it was much more defined without the glitter...the Burgandy was so deep and crisp. But I added the glitter, which I think looks fine on the card in real life, but in the pic, it looks like it wasn't stamped very clear...it's the glitter...trust me :)
LOL

Today was such a rainy dreary day that I had to turn the lights on in order to see what I was stamping. That's crazyyyyyyyy!!! It's mid June for crying out loud, we need more sunshine!! Poor Abbi, our Shih Tzu, just wants to sleep, sleep, sleep on days like this...doesn't want to play or anything. I know just how she feels, we definitely need sunshine!

My medical update: I am so proud of myself, I managed to get a load of wash done, some stampin done, got a beautiful pork roast done for supper and off to the Chiro for both DH and myself. Back home, watched a little TV and now I'm blogging. So I feel like I accomplished something for another day. Which is good, cuz it was just a week ago that I could hardly get out of my own way. I'm so happy that my body is reacting the way it's suppose to and I actually WANT to do something. woohooo! In all honesty though, I really, really am hoping for more energy, but I will take what I can get and be happy with it. It sure beats napping 20 times a day!! hehe

I hope I was able to inspire you to pick up your rubber and stamp something. Have a stampingly great week!

hugs,

Ret

Anniversary card for "My Stamping Studio"

Happy Saturday, All! It just occured to me that I never posted the card I made for Kelly's anniversary card contest. It was the first anniversary for her stamping & scrapbooking store, "My Stamping Studio" in Windsor, Nova Scotia. If you haven't been there to check it out, you must go!! It's a lovely store with all the handy dandy items us cardmakers need, want and MUST HAVE!!! hehe

I used Stampin Up's Fancy Flower Punch for the flower on my card. I ran the paper thru my Big Shot with the Cuttlebug polka dot Embossing Folder, and the leaves and butterfly were sizzlets dies. I used a Martha Stewart punch for the trim along the bottom. I hope you like it!

Hubby is bbqing chicken with roasted onions and potatoes, yummmmmmmm!!! So I'm going to run for now. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and that you have a chance to get inky!!

Happy day,

I'm back and Peace Within

Hi Cardmakers and friends! It's no secret that I've been struggling the the past 8 months with my health, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. I totally refuse to let it keep me down though, so here I am. My dear Hubby my Mom and my friends have stood beside me thru all of this and have kept me going, so thank you all for your support.
I have picked up my inks and stamps and managed to stamp between naps, LOL!!! I am praying and so hoping the tiredness will go away so I won't have to take all those naps, that I'll be able to stamp to my hearts content!!!

Today, I wanted to share with you a card I made with Stampin Up's "Peace Within" stamp set. When I was working on the card and now after it's done, it really does
make me feel "peace within"!! LOL So it's living up to it's title! I stamped and then colored it in with colored pencils, using the colored pencils and gamsol technique. I was happy with the soft look it gave me. I decided to do a sympathy card with it and used the "faux bow" technique, which I learned about on You Tube by DO Stamping With Dawn!! Give it a try, I know you'll love it!! I won't use it every time, but once in a while, it's just plain fun!! Please excuse pic of my card, the margin on the left hand side makes the card look lopsided, and then white appears on the right hand side and I don't know where that came from!!!! It happened in the resizing...sorry about that, but I don't know how to fix it!

I hope you've enjoyed this post and my card. Thanks so much for stopping by! Take care andddddddddd....

happy stampin,